Wade Fishing

Nope, I'm not a fan of fishing from a drift boat that's sliding downstream with a guide who is a total stranger to me. I mean, how do I know I can trust this guy to miss the hidden boulders and keep me from going into the drink from a sudden loud thud into the bow of the boat? Shouldn't worry about that? Well, I do.

Give me a stream to wade and I'm a happy guy. I only have to rely on myself to work a stream without any events...like stubbing a toe on the boulder in the stream bed. I hate that. In a sudden flash of thought, that voice in my head says, "you're going down, Mike! Break the fall with your left hand and hold up that classic Winston with the other." I can take full responsibility for the fall. No blaming anyone else, like I tend to do when stuff happens in drift boats...which are actually quiet thoughts in my head that I'm not proud of. Oh well...just a human doing the best I can. But no! I'm not doing drift boats anymore...even though I too still have unplanned events when wading the stream. I can own that...

It was a nice day today, wading one of the streams I love. My buddy, Rich and I spent the day in a beautiful place and I enjoyed each minute! What I like about wade fishing is the calming experience of being in a wilderness, stepping through running water...and having the time to savor each minute. Each cast. Each hook set. Each trout to the net. Hard to do in a drift boat. But working a stream by wading to the fishy runs and pools, an angler can be more thoughtful about his approach and how he presents the tiny morsel to a rising trout. Ahhhh, can it be an better than that? 

Gear: Winston WT TMF 8' 4wt rod; Bauer SST4 reel; Rio LightLine WF4F; and a secret dry fly (sorry).

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